1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermal cell system for measuring acceleration.
2. Brief Discussion of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,034 in particular discloses a thermal accelerometer comprising a gas-filled enclosure in which there are located a central heater strand with detector strands extending on either side thereof and presenting resistivity that is temperature-sensitive. The detector strands are mounted in a Wheatstone bridge together with unchanging resistances. The Wheatstone bridge is connected to a measurement circuit that delivers an electrical signal representative of a temperature difference between the detector strands. The temperature difference is itself representative of the acceleration to which the accelerometer is subjected.
The measurement characteristics of accelerometers of that type depend in particular on the nature of the gas used for filling the enclosure. In particular, a thermal accelerometer having an enclosure filled with a heavy gas presents high sensitivity but a narrow passband (typically 10 hertz (Hz)), whereas a thermal accelerometer in which the enclosure is filled with a light gas presents much lower sensitivity, but presents a passband that is much wider (typically 100 Hz).
In present measurement systems, it is therefore necessary to achieve a compromise between the sensitivity and the passband of the accelerometer used.